5.  The applicant was born in 1952 and lives in Bratislava.
6.  The applicant's family owned a plot of agricultural land located in the Prešov area. At the beginning of the 1960s the State put the land at the disposal of an agricultural cooperative. The applicant's family remained the owners of the land in name (nuda proprietas).
7.  In 1964 the right to use the land was conferred on the Slovakian Union of Fruiterers and Gardeners. The area where the plot is located was turned into a “garden community” consisting of individual gardens which were put at the disposal of third parties, members of the above Union (“gardeners”).
8.  On 14 January 2000 the gardeners requested under section 7(1) of Law no. 64/1997 that the ownership relationship in respect of their gardens be settled by the Prešov District Office in a land consolidation procedure under section 7(4) of that Act.
9.  On 10 January 2002 the District Office made a formal announcement under section 18(1) of Law no. 64/1997 of the commencement of the land consolidation procedure under section 7(4) of the Act. The announcement contained a register of the original ownership and a surveyor's plan concerning the current state of the land (“the preliminary inventory”).
10.  Three land owners objected to the preliminary inventory. The applicant's legal predecessor, Ms J. Salusová, objected that she did not own one of the plots concerned. On 17 June 2002 the District Office dismissed the objection, as the propriety certificate clearly indicated that she co-owned the relevant plot.
11.  On 3 October 2002 the District Office approved the preliminary inventory under section 9(4) of Law no. 64/1997.
12.  On 27 October 2002 Ms J. Salusová died. On 20 May 2003 a notary authorised by a court confirmed that the applicant had inherited a share in Ms J. Salusová's land used by the gardeners.
13.  On 13 February 2003 the applicant complained to the Constitutional Court that Law no. 64/1997 ran contrary to his constitutional right to own property. On 28 February 2003 a constitutional judge informed the applicant that individuals lack standing to initiate proceedings concerning conflict of laws.
14.  In a letter of 21 March 2003 the District Office invited the applicant under section 10(1) of Law no. 64/1997 to state whether he preferred to be compensated by being granted a substitute plot or paid an amount of money in lieu in respect of his title to the plot. The letter contained a list of specific plots that the administrator of the State's real property, the Slovak Real Estate Fund, had proposed as possible substitute plots in the applicant's case. In response, on 9 May 2003, the applicant rejected the proposed plots.
15.  On 5 August 2003 the District Office decided on the compensation for the landowners. The decision was not subject to appeal. It was envisaged that the gardeners would subsequently acquire title to their gardens.
16.  On 27 January 2004 public prosecutor lodged an objection and proposed that the administrative authority quash its decision on the matter of compensation, since one of the landowners had been omitted from the procedure. On 26 February 2004 the District Land Office in Prešov granted the objection. Subsequently it took further steps with a view to eliminating shortcomings in the procedure.
17.  On 10 April 2006 the Slovak Real Estate Fund proposed new substitute lands as the release of the former substitute lands was suspended.
18.  On 3 July 2007 two other heirs of Ms J. Salusová asserted their right in respect of their predecessor's land. On 18 September 2007 they informed the administrative authority that they did not accept the substitute land offered to them.
19.  On 4 December 2008 the District Land Office delivered a new decision on compensation under sections 10(3)(a) and 11 of Law no. 64/1997. It indicates that the applicant is to receive 423.72 euros (EUR) for 1,702 square metres of land owned by him. That amount corresponds to EUR 0.249 per square metre.
20.  The plots in issue have been entered in land register as arable land and grass-grown land. They were originally outside the town's built-up area. The Prešov municipality's zoning plan approved on 30 January 2008 indicates that the area including the applicant's land now falls within a zone designated for family housing. The relevant entry in the register was amended and indicates that the plots are within the built-up area of Prešov.
21.  On 5 April 2009 the Forensic Engineering Institute in Žilina, at the Government's request, made a valuation of the applicant's land used by the gardeners. The opinion states, inter alia, that the land is situated within the constructible area of the town of Prešov, which is the seat of regional authorities and institutions. It is located some two kilometres from the bus and railway station. There is a fifteen metre-wide protection zone on the land along an aerial high-voltage line. Part of the land is situated on a steep slope.
22.  The experts noted that four gardens in the area had been put up for sale at prices of between EUR 24.22 and EUR 39.25 per square metre. However, the price included also the gardeners' investments, such as huts, vegetation and other facilities. The institution concluded that the market value of the land was EUR 7.67 per square metre and its rental value EUR 0.532 per square metre a year.
23.  The applicant disagreed with that valuation as it did not reflect the actual value of his land. In particular, he objected that only one method had been used. The experts had failed to take into account his land's development potential in view of the existing zoning plan. A contract submitted by the applicant indicates that on 27 August 2008 he and other co-owners had sold different land situated in the vicinity of that which the gardeners use, for the equivalent of EUR 33.19 per square metre. Finally, the applicant argued that the aerial power line had been erected without the consent of the landowners. It could not be ruled out that the line would be removed in the near future.